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True Blue, I too have seen rays do peculiar things in the backcountry of the Keys, much like the video posted by Pamlicotraveler ... even flying through the air for short distances. Looks like a ray to me also

Often when you see a ray leap from the water, he's trying to avoid being eaten by a shark.

04-25-2008 11:32 AM

witzgall

We don't have a shark problem. Look, here comes the ferry with another load of summer Tourists!

It was definitely a Sunfish. I found the following; "At first glance you might think it's a shark fin, but the shape and the characteristic back-and-forth sculling motion is quite different from the straight-line motion of the fin of a cruising shark." In this online book, referenced from Wikipedia.

I have seen ocean sunfish (Mola mola) on quite a few occasions too, but only in the ocean. My understanding was this video is from Pamlico Sound. But maybe I made a false assumption??

Was this video taken out in the ocean? It appeared to be in a protected/embayed anchorage.

Also, any time I've seen Mola mola they have sailed along smoothly just below the surface, with a steady, purposeful swimming pattern, making slow graceful turns. Rays on the other hand, will lurch, surge, turn, flop and make a lot of surface commotion, which is what I saw in the video.

But I am not ruling out the Sea Serpant yet...

04-25-2008 12:34 AM

Hubec

It was definitely a Sunfish. I found the following; "At first glance you might think it's a shark fin, but the shape and the characteristic back-and-forth sculling motion is quite different from the straight-line motion of the fin of a cruising shark." In this online book, referenced from Wikipedia.

04-24-2008 10:24 PM

seabreeze_97

Not a shark.

04-24-2008 04:11 PM

RickQuann

True Blue, I too have seen rays do peculiar things in the backcountry of the Keys, much like the video posted by Pamlicotraveler ... even flying through the air for short distances. Looks like a ray to me also

04-24-2008 03:53 PM

TrueBlue

Still . . . that animation was sick!

My wife and I were kayaking through the Florida Keys mangroves a couple of years ago and witnessed a similar sight. The guide we were with said the "wings" of spotted rays are commonly seen darting above the water's surface during feeding and mating - which they often do close to the surface.

My wife was later freaked out, when two of them swam directly under her boat, surfacing just a few feet away.

04-24-2008 03:37 PM

Stillraining

Your very lucky...The next boat that came along suffered this fate as captured on film